We always hear about the things that we shouldn’t be eating so it’s nice when you find a food that tastes good, and is good for you. The sweet potato truly is a super food. They are almost always available, are easy to prepare, inexpensive, highly nutritious, and they taste fantastic.
Aches and pains are way of life when you train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but sometimes it’s tough to know exactly what causes them. A while back I started feeling pain across my shoulder and in my tricep region. For about two weeks it felt like I had a constant cramp in my arm. However, when you felt the tricep you could tell that it wasn’t cramped. It's a really frustrating type of pain because I felt like there is nothing I could do about it.
You’re lying on your left hip with the right leg up in air supporting your opponent as you attempt a sweep. Suddenly you hear a sudden pop and feel pain on the inside of your knee, but you decide to keep rolling. After class the knee feels stiff and a little sore, but you decide it’s not a big deal and you should be fine for class tomorrow. Next week you roll and it feels a little better, but you hear and feel some clicking when you squat and begin to wonder if this is normal. Sound familiar?
To maintain your energy level at a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition you need to eat. But eating too much, or the wrong things, or at the wrong times is much worse than not eating enough.
We all age, and all of us who are passionate about the sport and art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu will eventually reach a point in time when we ask, “Is it worth it for me to continue training?”
In the 1970s scientists studying the Inuit people of Greenland weren’t expecting to find people with healthy cardiovascular systems. They ate whale blubber after all and barely had any fresh fruits or vegetables. But the Inuits had very healthy hearts and no problems with cholesterol. What was going on?
I’m not looking to add pounds of muscle, but in managing my weight I stick to a low carb, high protein diet. Part of that diet includes protein drinks either after a workout or sometimes as a quick meal replacement.
Nutrition is such a complex topic, and there are a lot of things we don't yet know or understand. There is one topic though that almost all nutritionists agree on, and that is the fact that we don't get enough fiber in our diets. A person who eats a diet rich in fiber has a reduced risk of heart attack or stroke (almost 40% lower according to some studies), is less likely to be obese, and has lower risk of diabetes among a lot of other benefits.
If you want to train like a champion, you need to give your body the right kind of fuel. Nature has created some foods that are almost too good to be true, and the magic of modern commerce has brought them right to your neighborhood supermarket. Here are 6 foods you should try to eat every day: